HAITI SOLIDARITY Issue #4 AUG 2014

haiti solidarity
Volume One
The newsletter of Haiti Action Committee.
August 2014
Number Four
$3
solidarity
h a i t i
The newsletter of Haiti Action Committee.
Writers & Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nia Imara, Leslie Mullin
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert Roth, Charlie Hinton
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seth Donnelly
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dave Welsh
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Akinyele Omowale Umoja
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Judith Mirkinson
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arlene Eisen
Haiti Action Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.haitisolidarity.net
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . action.haiti@gmail.com
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (510) 483-7481
IN THIS ISSUE
Cover art: “Free Palestine / Free Haiti” (Arabic) - Nia Imara
Editorial - Haiti Action Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Solidarity with El Salvador - Haiti Action Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Ten Years Since the 2004 Coup - Dave Welsh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
The Fiftieth Anniversary of Freedom Summer - Akinyele Umoja . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Haiti: Where Will the Poor Go? - Seth Donnelly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Shameless Racism in the Venezuelan Counter-Revolution - Arlene Eisen . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Oscar Lopez Rivera: 33 Years is Enough - Judith Mirkinson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Want to support the work of Haiti Action Committee?
All donations go toward supporting the grassroots efforts of
the committee—an all-volunteer organization—and to Haitian
grassroots organizations.
Checks can be made out and sent to:
Haiti Action Committee
PO Box 2040
Berkeley, CA 94702
To order previous issues of Haiti Solidarity, write to the above
address or email action.haiti@gmail.com.
2
haiti solidarity | august 2014
free palestine! free haiti!
A
s we go to press, Israel is waging a criminal
Haiti Solidarity includes the following articles: Haiair and ground assault against Gaza that has
ti Action Committee member Seth Donnelly’s analysis
claimed nearly 2,000 Palestinian lives—overof land takeovers and resistance in Haiti, based on a trip
whelmingly civilians, including hundreds of children.
he took there in July; HAC member Dave Welsh’s report
The daily, mind-numbing images of bombed schools
on events held internationally in solidarity with Haiti
and residential buildings with whole families killed
on the tenth anniversary of the February 2004 coup;
are horrific. This brutal war, financed and supported
Arlene Eisen’s account of racism in the anti-Chavez
by the United States, has
movement in Venezuela; an
become a central human
article by Judith Mirkinson
rights issue of our time.
about Puerto Rican political
We dedicate this one-year
We stand in solidarity with
prisoner Oscar Lopez, who
anniversary
issue
of
Haiti
Solidarity
the people of Gaza and—
has served over 33 years in
like people around the
US prisons; an article by
to Lovinsky Pierre Antoine.
world—demand an end to
Professor Akinyele Umoja
the Israeli occupation.
about the 50th anniversary of
This issue of Haiti Solidarity has a number of artiFreedom Summer and the continuing fight to bring real
cles on struggles throughout the Caribbean and the rest people’s government to Jackson, Mississippi; and a Haiti
of Latin America. Haiti Action Committee participates Action solidarity statement upon the inauguration of
in the Bay Area Latin American Solidarity Coalition
former FMLN guerrilla leader Salvador Sanchez Cerén
(BALASC), which works to develop a broad picture of as president of El Salvador.
themes that apply to the whole region and the impeAs always, we welcome your feedback.
rial role of the United States. Haitians call themselves
We dedicate this one-year anniversary issue of Haiti
“the laboratory” for US policy in the Americas, and
Solidarity to Lovinsky Pierre Antoine, the courageous
the suppression of democracy and ongoing occupation Haitian freedom fighter who was disappeared in his
in Haiti provides a case in point for Venezuela, Nicaown country on August 12, 2007.
ragua, El Salvador, Bolivia, and other Latin American
No one is free until all of us are free. Free Palestine.
governments who work to support the majority of their
A luta continua. i
populations.
Solidarity with the People of El Salvador
H
aiti Action Committee congratulates President
Salvador Sanchez Cerén, the FMLN, and all those
in El Salvador and internationally who have fought
for so many years to achieve this great victory. This election demonstrates what hard work, determination, wisdom,
compassion and sacrifice can accomplish.
We also stand in solidarity with Salvadorans as they
resist the destabilization efforts of the international ruling
elites to undermine their democracy. Haitians know it’s not
enough just to win elections. They overwhelmingly elected
Jean-Bertrand Aristide twice, only to see him overthrown
by US-sponsored military coups both times. Now they have
suffered under a United Nations occupation for more than
ten years, and the Lavalas Family Party of President Aristide is not allowed to run candidates in so-called elections,
because they would win.
The goals of the majority of Salvadorans in electing the
FMLN mirror the goals of the majority of Haitians who
elected Lavalas—to serve the huge majority of the people
instead of transnational capital and billionaires. Freedom
is a constant struggle. Hasta la victoria siempre! The people
united will never be defeated. i
august 2014 | haiti solidarity
3
events in 22
cities in 7countries
30support
Haiti’s popular movement
10 years since the 2004 Coup
By
Dave Welsh
H
aiti marked the tenth anniversary of
the February 29, 2004 coup d’état with large street
demonstrations—demanding the ouster of the illegal coup regime that still rules Haiti today, and an end to
the US/United Nations military occupation.
Meanwhile, friends of Haiti organized at least 30 events
in 22 cities in seven countries, as part of the 2014 International Days in Solidarity with the Haitian People, raising
similar demands.
A statement by the Haiti Action Committee read:
This is the 210th year of Haiti’s 1804 Revolution, as well
as the tenth anniversary of the February 29, 2004 coup, engineered by the US, France, and Canada, which left a brutal
legacy of pain and destruction. The actions of US-imposed
President Martelly and his ally Jean-Claude Duvalier clearly
demonstrate what the 2004 coup was all about.
The Haitian people are outraged by the step-by-step
return of Duvalierism and its embrace by the fraudulently
elected Martelly government—which threatens to bring back
the hated military ... which organizes sweeps of market women and midnight raids on the camps of earthquake survivors
... which continues its repressive vendetta against members of
the majority Lavalas movement.
We support the Haitian people’s demand that Haiti’s sovereignty be respected and that the 2004 coup must be reversed.
That would mean:
• Free and fair elections in which all parties can run candidates.
• Putting an end to the repression and the US/UN military
occupation.
• Rebuilding Haiti the way the Haitian 99 percent want
it built: Paying a living wage in the factories instead of
sweatshop wages … Restoring farming self-sufficiency
so Haiti can feed itself again … Real Haitian control of
mineral resources and aid funds … Schools, housing and
health care for the people.
4
haiti solidarity | august 2014
2014 International Days in Solidarity
with the Haitian People
Haiti
Throngs of people took the streets of Port-au-Prince on
February 27, marching from the burned-out ruins of Father
Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s St. Jean Bosco church (inspirational
home of the mass movement to overthrow “Baby Doc” Duvalier in the late 1980s), continuing through popular neighborhoods to the Champs de Mars, near the National Palace.
Among the marchers was an all-women rara band, which
also performed at the eighteenth anniversary of the Aristide
Foundation on March 8, International Women’s Day. In a
separate event marking the 2004 coup, a film showing was
organized in a poor working class community in the capital,
screening the Kreyol-language film Achievements of the Aristide Government. Resistance to the Martelly puppet regime
was not confined to the capital city. In late February, residents of the pastoral southern island of Ile a Vache marched
to resist the announced land grab and dispossession of the
islanders by outside tourist companies, a move backed by
the Martelly regime. The protest faced heavy repression by
the US-backed authorities.
London, England
Global Women’s Strike put on a benefit concert for the
grassroots movement in Haiti, honoring the resistance since
the 2004 coup. Headliner at the event was Linton Kwesi
Johnson, the Jamaican-born dub poet based in the UK.
Global Women’s Strike also organized Haiti benefit concerts
in Philadelphia and at MacArthur Park in Los Angeles.
sachusetts, where community college teachers engaged the
student body and passed out informational literature about
the 2004 coup in Haiti. At University of California, Santa
Cruz, the Haiti Action Committee addressed hundreds of
students, putting the coup in the context of long years of
resistance by the Haitian people against French and US
domination.
The Americas
A Garifuna community in the southern part of the
Central American country Belize organized workshops in
early March to study the Haitian Revolution of 1804 and the
kidnapping coup 200 years later, using materials provided
by the Haiti Action Committee. The Garifuna residents are
engaged in local food production, “building autonomy and
organizing around cultural rights,” according to our correspondent. In Georgetown, Guyana the Red Thread women’s
organization put on a program about the coup and Haiti’s
history of resistance, which appeared on television in that
South American country.
Africa
Through the wonders of modern media, in early March
millions of viewers and listeners were able to hear the message of the 2014 International Days in Solidarity with Haiti,
with radio and TV interviews in many cities. From Johannesburg an hour-long report about the situation in Haiti was
broadcast in English on a radio network that reaches many
countries in Africa. Press TV, which has millions of viewers internationally, featured an interview with a journalist
about the current situation in the Central African Republic
(CAR). He told the story of the 2004 midnight kidnapping
of President and Mrs. Aristide from their home in Haiti, after which they were flown on a US military plane across the
Atlantic to the landlocked central African country. France,
a key actor in the Haiti coup, is the former colonial power
in the CAR, which remains a French neo-colony to this day.
(The kidnapping began a seven-year period of enforced exile
for the Aristides, as US government pressure prevented their
return to their homeland.)
Claremont/Los Angeles
A series of programs were held on two college campuses on March 1 and March 8, as well as at Leimert Park in
Los Angeles on March 9, featuring report-backs from a US
youth delegation to Haiti. The programs aimed to educate
about the US/France/Canada coup d’état and kidnapping of
2004. Organizers said the events sought to “build a sustained conversation around US imperialism, and recognize
Haiti as the birthplace of liberty during the long night of
colonial terror that all America bore.”
Canada
Events commemorating the disastrous 2004 coup in
Haiti were held in Montreal, Ottawa, Windsor and Toronto.
The Windsor Peace Coalition devoted its weekly Saturday
anti-war picket to Haiti, issuing this statement: “The 2004
coup was followed by a military occupation by United Nations forces that continues to this day….Ten years later the
people of Haiti continue to resist and demand an end to the
… ongoing violation of their nation’s sovereignty by the US
and its partners in crime, including Canada.”
The US
In Oakland, CA people crowded into Humanist Hall on
March 1 to hear a Haitian grassroots leader give a firsthand
report on the situation in Haiti, as well as lend her mellifluous voice to songs of the people’s movement. Other events
and film showings marking the 2004 coup were held in
Berkeley, San Francisco, and Boston; in Miami, where the
Haitian community organization Veye Yo devoted its Friday
night meeting February 28 to the subject; in western Mas-
History of the International Days in Solidarity
with the Haitian People
This year’s is the latest in a series of coordinated multicity protests condemning the 2004 kidnapping coup d’état and
the US/UN occupation that followed it. These International
Days were initiated by grassroots organizations in Haiti, in
concert with the Haiti Action Committee, to bring awareness
to the dire situation and the people’s continuing resistance.
July 21, 2005 - Fifteen cities in five countries demonstrated their outrage at the July 6 massacre by Brazilian-led
United Nations troops in the popular neighborhood of Cite
Soleil. Also on July 21, Haitian liberation priest Father Gerard Jean-Juste, who had kicked off the emergency protest
campaign July 9 at the Brazilian consulate in Miami, was
beaten, arrested, and thrown in Haiti’s National Penitentiary.
September 30, 2005 - Outrage at the ongoing and
bloody US-led campaign of repression sparked protests in 47
cities, 17 countries and four continents, with one message:
“Stop the war against the Haitian people.”
February 7, 2007 - The Second International Day in
Solidarity with Haiti linked 62 cities in nineteen countries
on five continents—
(continued on page 15)
august 2014 | haiti solidarity
5
The 50th anniversary of
Freedom
Summer
The struggle continues
By Akinyele Omowale Umoja
Akinyele Omowale Umoja is a founding member of both the New Afrikan People’s Organization and the Malcolm X
Grassroots Movement. An educator and scholar-activist, he is an associate professor and chair of the department of
African-American studies at Georgia State University, and he is the author of We Will Shoot Back:
Armed Resistance in the Mississippi Freedom Movement (NYU Press, 2013).
I
This article was first published on June 12, 2014 on www.fromthesquare.org and is reprinted here with the author’s permission.
n late June, hundreds will convene
in Jackson, Mississippi to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of
Freedom Summer. The 1964 Freedom
Summer was one of the most courageous campaigns for freedom in the
history of the United States. It built
upon heroic work of Mississippi human
rights activists who labored without
much national media attention and
support or protection from the federal
government.
After emancipation from enslavement, Black Mississippians were denied
basic human rights through a system
of white supremacy and racial terror.
Mississippi’s state leaders unashamedly
promoted and supported Jim Crow
apartheid in the state, which included
denying voting rights of people of African descent, 42 percent of its population. Racial violence was a major force
in maintaining white supremacy in
Mississippi and other southern states.
In the early 1950s, an indigenous
network of African-American activists emerged under the banner of the
Regional Council of Negro Leader-
6
ship and the National Association of
the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP). With the guidance of
movement veteran Ella Baker, young
Robert Moses, a Harvard graduate,
came to Mississippi in 1961 on behalf
of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Moses began
to recruit Mississippi Black college
students and youth to organize for
voting and human rights in the state,
in coordination with the network local
Black freedom fighters. The Congress
of Racial Equality (CORE) soon joined
Moses, SNCC, and local NAACP chapters in the effort to secure voting rights
in the state.
The white supremacist power
structure responded to the upsurge
of Black activism with an increased
campaign of racial terrorism, harassing,
repressing, and in some cases, assassinating local Black activists and movement supporters. The terrorism in the
state, which drew almost no attention
from the media, inspired the singer
Nina Simone to title a protest song
“Mississippi Goddam.”
haiti solidarity | august 2014
To overcome the ongoing campaign of terror, Bob Moses proposed
an intensive campaign known as the
Mississippi Summer Project. The project would organize a racially-inclusive
Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party
(MFDP), organize voter registration,
and establish a network of Freedom
Schools to educate Black children in
literacy, math, and African-American
history. Given the lack of media attention and the government’s failure to act,
Moses advocated bringing in hundreds
of white college students to volunteer
in the summer project. The national
news media and powerful government
officials would pay attention if their
sons and daughters were in racist, violent Mississippi.
The national leadership embraced
Moses’ proposal (despite opposition
from the majority of Black Mississippi SNCC organizers)—and in 1964,
hundreds of Black and white volunteers
from around the United States arrived
in segregated Mississippi to confront
white supremacy.
The Freedom Summer did not
deter violence. On the eve of volunteers
coming to the state, three members
of CORE—James Chaney, Mickey
Schwerner, and Andy Goodman—disappeared and were ultimately found
murdered in Neshoba County. Over
one thousand activists were arrested
in the state between June and October
that year; 37 churches were bombed or
burned to the ground; and 15 people
were murdered, due to white supremacist violence. Local Black communities re-doubled their efforts to provide
protection for activists and volunteers;
some formed roving, armed patrols to
protect their neighbors from attack.
Activists from nonviolent organizations even picked up arms to join local
Blacks in protecting the community.
The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) presented a
persuasive challenge at the 1964
Democratic Convention in Atlantic
City. MFDP leader and spokesperson
Fannie Lou Hamer, an activist Black
sharecropper, powerfully described,
to the US and the world, the violent
terror of Mississippi. Hamer passionately illustrated her experience of being
evicted from the plantation where she
and her husband worked, incarcerated,
and brutally beaten for attempting to
register to vote.
The National Democratic Party and
its leader, President Lyndon Johnson,
chose to maintain its relationship with
the pro-segregationist Mississippi
delegation. The MFDP was offered a
compromise of two seats within the
pro-segregationist delegation. This
compromise was rejected by the MFDP.
The national Democratic Party leadership realized the potentiality of the
MFDP challenge, particularly as the
freedom struggle was winning the fight
for voting rights. This led to the undermining of segregationist policies in the
Democratic Party in the South and the
inclusion of Black people.
On the other hand, some SNCC
and CORE activist chose not to rely on
political parties, but instead to move
in an autonomous direction calling for
independent Black political organization. Some began to focus on grassroots, economic development through
cooperatives. Fannie Lou Hamer and
other activists in the historic Mississippi Delta initiated the cooperative
Freedom Farms. The call for Black
political self-determination or “Black
Power” was also complemented with a
call for self-defense particularly since
the federal government could not be
relied upon for protection. Echoing the
sentiment of local Mississippians, many
from previously nonviolent organizations embraced the advocacy and
practice of We Will Shoot Back!
The legacy of a system of apartheid
and white supremacy manifested in
contemporary institutional racism stills
effects Black Mississippi. With its large
Black population, Mississippi is the
poorest state in the US In Jackson, the
state capital, a movement has emerged
for grassroots Black politics. Jackson
is 80 percent Black, the second highest
African-American population of any
major city in the US.
The People’s Assembly was organized in 2008 in the city’s Ward 2 to
elect revolutionary Attorney Chokwe
Lumumba to City Council. Born and
raised in Detroit, Lumumba first came
to Mississippi in 1971 as a member of
the Provisional Government of the Republic of New Africa (RNA). The RNA
desired to establish an independent,
Black government and socialist economy in the Deep South, including Jackson and the Black majority counties of
Mississippi. Lumumba later became the
Chairman and co-founder of the proBlack self-determination, pro-socialist
New Afrikan People’s Organization and
the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement
(MXGM). He also worked to bring
Bryon De La Beckwith, the assassin of
Medgar Evers, to justice and for a Black
agenda for the city’s first Black Mayor.
Lumumba identified himself as a “Fannie Lou Hamer Democrat” and was a
card-carrying member of the MFDP,
not the state Democratic Party, which
he associated with the legacy of white
supremacy.
After Lumumba was elected with
63 percent of the vote to the Jackson
City Council in 2009, the People’s
Assembly continued to organize task
forces around youth and economic
development, educational policy, and
improving the ward’s infrastructure,
as well as providing direction for the
councilman in his voting on the city’s
legislative body. This formula served as
the model for Lumumba’s election to
the city’s Mayor in 2013. In the runoff
of the Democratic primary, he earned
58 percent of the vote while his opponent raised five times Lumumba’s
campaign fund. Lumumba received 86
percent of the vote during the general election. With this mandate, he
planned to expand the People’s Assembly citywide and institute a plan of
worker-managed cooperatives to reinvigorate the city’s crumbling economy.
Lumumba consciously tied himself to
the Mississippi Freedom Movement of
the 1950s and 1960s.
Lumumba’s untimely death in
February 2014, eight months after his
inauguration to Mayor, is a setback to
his initiatives and the agenda of the Assembly. But the struggle continues. The
People’s Assembly is still building citywide and in May 2014, a Jackson Rising
New Economies conference announced
Cooperation Jackson, an initiative to
organize worker-managed cooperatives
in the city as a model for impoverished
Black communities in the state.
As we commemorate 1964 Freedom
Summer, we must not ignore the continued fight for Black self-determination,
democracy, human rights and economic
justice in the Mississippi and the U.S.
The People’s Assembly and Cooperation
Jackson represent contemporary manifestations of this fight and a continuation of the promise of Freedom Summer. Let us not forget: in Mississippi, the
struggle for freedom continues! i
august 2014 | haiti solidarity
7
Haiti:
Where Will the Poor Go?
by Seth Donnelly
Seth Donnelly is a member of the Haiti Action
Committee and a Bay Area high school teacher.
He regularly travels to and works in Haiti.
uring my last trip to Haiti this June with a delegation of students and human rights observers, we
were exposed to the raw violence of the ongoing
forced dispersal of the poor. On May 31, the Martelly regime
intensified a process—in the name of “eminent domain”—of
violently evicting the poor from their homes in downtown
Port-au-Prince and then physically destroying their homes
and businesses. We met with a group of men and women
who had been subjected to this violence, and we filmed their
extensive testimony. They spoke of SWAT police and bulldozers coming at night, of having only ten minutes to flee
their homes, then witnessing the destruction of everything
they had.
These survivors came to us with tears, anger, and backpacks full of the only possessions they had left. They spoke
of having to sleep in parks or on roofs, of children being put
out on the street, of vulnerability to infection and ongoing
harassment by the government.
One man, speaking on behalf of the Representatives of
the Citizens of Centre-Ville Against Forced Displacement,
stated that more than 62,000 people had lost their homes
in downtown Port-au-Prince since May 31. The Martelly
regime has not provided compensation or humane, alternative housing—in clear violation of the Haitian Constitution.
Indeed, official sources acknowledge that 400 properties
have been destroyed, but only seventeen people compensated.1 Clearly, this grossly underestimates the numbers of
people rendered homeless, since legally registered pieces of
property may actually consist of multiple dwellings of the
poor with dozens of people living within them.
Secretary of State Planning Michel Présumé stated earlier in the spring that the Martelly regime had taken all the
necessary steps to compensate “the owners.” “We deposited
this money in a deposit account, owners have just to appear
with their original titles, so they can receive from the expropriation Committee the value of their land or their homes
in accordance with the evaluation criteria for buildings.”2
Undoubtedly, the problem with this compensation formula
is that it does not take into account the thousands of people
dispossessed of their homes who were tenants, not owners.
Accompanied by a Haitian human rights journalist, we
visited the areas of downtown that had been subjected to
these demolitions; we saw massive destruction spanning
blocks and blocks, including half of the General Hospital.
We saw a bulldozer still at work and Haitians standing
around the rubble, perhaps some still in shock, as if another
earthquake had hit.
The initial eminent domain decree for the downtown
was issued by President Préval in 2010, then repealed and
reissued (with some modifications) by Martelly. Ostensibly,
the goal is to rebuild the administrative center of the city,
but Martelly has also stated that he welcomes the involvement of “entrepreneurs” and the private sector. Secretary of
State Planning Présumé stated that “the State has a budget
of about 150 million US dollars [for the construction of the
administrative city] from several sources.”3
The people who shared their testimony with us blamed
Martelly for their dispossession and current misery. According to these Haitians, the eminent domain project involves
not just the reconstruction of the administrative center, but
the transformation of the downtown into an upscale, commercial zone. Further investigation is required to determine
other facets of this plan and sources of funding or investment involved, particularly those by the “private sector”
welcomed by Martelly.
D
8
haiti solidarity | august 2014
W
Where will the poor go?
here have so many tent city dwellers already
gone? The Martelly regime has dismantled
most of the tent cities through stick-and-carrot
methods: many families have received a one-time payment of $500 to relocate while others have been violently
evicted from the camps. The $500 payment is notoriously
inadequate given the spike in land and housing prices and
rents—a “market reaction” in large part to so many rich
foreigners now living in Port-au-Prince as part of the NGO/
UN network. Moreover, the price of rice (now “Made in the
USA”) has increased dramatically in recent years, perhaps as
much as 500 percent, further rendering this $500 aid package paltry.
We gained a sense of where so many desperate people
Downtown Port-au-Prince where the Martelly regime has been destroying homes of the poor in the name of “eminent domain”.
are relocating when we visited Canara, a “city” of approximately 200,000 people seeking to eke out an existence in the
hills in the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. Out of sight, out of
mind—that is for the foreign tourists and Haitian bourgeoisie who stay at the new Oasis hotel or who perhaps will shop
soon in downtown Port-au-Prince. The people of Canara do
not have any meaningful access to water, electricity, education, healthcare, food, or employment, let alone even the
cement and cinder blocks to complete many of their houses.
People are forced to walk or travel considerable distances
just to pay for water, food, and other supplies, if they have
the money. And, yet, while we were meeting with an older
Haitian woman about a water cistern project our team is
funding in her community of Canara, we heard machinery—a bulldozer and truck—at work. After the meeting, we
walked about 50 feet behind her dwelling and discovered
that they were digging out a vast canyon, extracting truckload upon truckload of rock and sand to be sold elsewhere,
reportedly for the profits of a private company. She came to
the edge of the canyon and yelled down to the workers not
to dig any closer to her home. While she lacked the sand,
rock, and cement to build a simple water cistern for her
community, an apparently private company poached these
resources for free in order to sell to those who could better
afford the “market rate.”
On June 19, perhaps as the bulldozers were still clearing
the rubble of people’s homes in downtown Port-au-Prince,
Bill Clinton received the “Lifetime Achievement Award” for
his work in Haiti from the Happy Hearts Fund in the New
York City Cipriani Restaurant. The award ceremony was led
by Petra Nemcova, a supermodel who runs the foundation
and who is the girlfriend of the current Haitian Prime Minister, Laurent Lamothe. Also in the audience was Haitian
President Michel Martelly, who received an award for his
“leadership in education.” Outside of the lavish restaurant,
a group of Haitian activists and their allies protested the
ceremony, chanting, “Clinton, where is the money for reconstruction?”4
The timing of these awards is particularly absurd. According to the news website Tout Haiti, earlier this April,
two prominent lawyers have petitioned Haiti’s Superior
Court of Auditors and Administrative Disputes to demand
an audit of Bill Clinton’s management of the Interim Haiti
Recovery Commission (IHRC). A federal audit, conducted
by the US Government Accountability Office and released
on October 9, 2013, raised major concerns about the USAID’s recent work in Haiti, particularly on Clinton-backed
projects.5
But there is a deeper issue than alleged missing funds,
mismanagement, and shoddy, incomplete aid projects. The
deeper issue is Clinton’s agenda for “development” in Haiti:
a strategy that is not really healthy development at all, but
rather mal-development in the service of corporate exploitation of the country’s resources and people. Expanding this
corporate-driven mal-development was a central agenda
for Clinton in the
(continued on page 10)
august 2014 | haiti solidarity
9
Clinton in Haiti
(continued from page 9)
1990s, just as it is for
the Obama Administration today.
As President, Clinton pushed this strategy when he
pressured the Haitian government to open up its economy
to US-subsidized, big business rice exports, thereby driving many Haitian rice farmers out of business and crippling
Haiti’s domestic rice industry.6 Though Clinton publicly
apologized for this “trade policy,” he has been pursuing a
similar corporate strategy through his handling of “aid” as
head of the Clinton Foundation and the IHRC since the
2010 earthquake.7 He has been a vigorous supporter of the
new Caracol Industrial Park, funded in large part by USAID. The “park” consists of garment sweatshops that offer
substandard, unlivable wages. This has been a boon to companies that can have clothing assembled in Haiti by workers
receiving near-slave wages, then sold in the US without having to pay any customs.8 However, as investigative reporter
Jonathan Katz notes, the “park” has not been such a boon to
the local Haitians:
10
haiti solidarity | august 2014
“But less than a year after Caracol Industrial Park’s
gala opening—with Bill and Hillary Clinton, Sean Penn,
designer Donna Karan and Haiti’s current and former
presidents among the guests—the feeling these days is
disappointment. Hundreds of smallholder farmers were
coaxed into giving up more than 600 acres of land for the
complex, yet nearly 95 percent of that land remains unused. A much-needed power plant was completed on the
site, supplying the town with more electricity than ever,
but locals say surges of wastewater have caused floods
and spoiled crops.
“Most critically, fewer than 1,500 jobs have been
created—paying too little, the locals say, and offering no
job security. ‘We thought there was going to be some
benefit for us,’ says Ludwidge Fountain, 34.... He worked
for two months at the park as a guard, taking home
about $3.40 a day, until his contract ran out. ‘Maybe it’s
good for some of the people inside the park. Everyone
else got nothing.’” 9
Likewise, Bill Clinton has funneled aid money to
establish a business venture between Coca-Cola and local
mango farmers, using existing mango groves and using land
for new groves to produce exports for Coca-Cola and its
“Haiti Hope” project (an Odwalla drink). About the project,
Clinton stated:
cating more Foundation aid into the construction of a new
Marriott Hotel.
Tourism, sweatshops, and export-agriculture: these are
integral components of Clinton’s vision for Haiti. Undoubtedly, some of this “development” will require the coercive
dispersal of the rural poor who occupy land that will be
turned into “free trade zones” and of the urban poor who
“The Coca‑Cola Company responded to Haiti’s
occupy space—either in tent cities or popular neighborurgent immediate needs with financial support and
hoods—slated for tourist projects and up-scale commercial
beverages. The Haiti Hope Project goes a step further
zones.
and exemplifies the innovative role that partnerships
And what of Martelly, the other award recipient? Has
with the private sector can play in the reconstruction of he doubled the rate of Haitian children going to school, as
Haiti.”10
claimed in the Happy Heart Fund ceremony? This claim
is patently false, according to Haitian grassroots educators
According to Coca-Cola’s website, $9.5 million has
who we interviewed. Martelly pledged to provide paybeen raised since 2010 to launch this project
ments to schools on a per pupil basis, but this
in a public-private partnership. Coca-Cola
funding reportedly only covers a fraction
claims to have 19,000 mango farmers
of all pupils and, to date, has not even
Since coming to power,
“enrolled” in the project, frequently
been received by schools for this past
Martelly has been rebuildorganized into co-ops, and that half
school year. Many teachers have not
ing the Duvalierist system in
of these farmers are women. Morebeen paid in months, resulting in
over, Coca-Cola claims that ten
which the elite get rich in ventures the recent, widespread teacher and
cents on every bottle of “Odwalla
student protests. Apparently, superwith
foreign
interests
(e.g.,
ClinMango Tango Smoothie” purchased
model Petra Nemcova was unaware
ton), while the poor majority is
will go back to “Haiti Hope.”11 The
of these basic, easily verifiable realiClinton-Bush Fund gave a grant of
further marginalized, immiserat- ties on the ground in Haiti when she
12
more than $500,000 to the project.
ed, and increasingly subjected awarded Martelly.
Projects such as this do not advance
Martelly came to power in 2011
to selective repression.
Haiti’s vital need for food security, but
through sham elections—what many
instead tether the wellbeing of Haitian
Haitians call “selections”—because the largfarmers to the fickle tastes of more affluent,
est political and most popular political party,
primarily “First World” consumers.
Fanmi Lavalas, the party of the poor majority, was
The Clinton Foundation is also funding similar agricul- excluded from participation. Only 22 percent (or less) of the
tural, “supply chain” projects involving peanut and coffee
electorate voted and, of that fraction, Martelly received the
farmers. The Foundation claims to be assisting these farmwinning fraction. This was reportedly the worst voter turners by funding the construction of regional depots, providout in the Americas since 1947.15 The Obama Administraing marketing and technical assistance, as well as linking
tion financed the selections (including legislative positions)
the farmers to buyers elsewhere, such as the Four Seasons
to the tune of at least $14 million.16 Moreover, the Admin13
Restaurant chain. As with the Coca-Cola Project, this
istration exerted considerable pressure, including threats
“market-driven” and export-led approach to agricultural
to cut off aid to Haiti, in order to insure that Martelly was
development fails to directly address Haiti’s vital need for
included in the runoff elections, even though he technically
domestic food production and security. While Haitians
placed third in the first round. Secretary of State Hillary
produce more coffee, peanuts, and mangos for export, they
Clinton flew to Haiti and personally intervened to help push
remain dependent upon overpriced, US corporate food im- Martelly into power.17 Martelly, himself a very wealthy
ports, while growing tracts of their land are being leased off entertainer, spent considerable sums of his own fortune to
to “foreign investors” for “industrial parks” and tourist sites. leverage his “victory” (the equivalent of $15 billion in the
Then there is the infamous Oasis Hotel in Port-auUS). Martelly’s Duvalierist ties in Haiti and his far right
Prince, a huge, elite structure built to court rich tourists and connections abroad have been well documented by reporter
foreign investors. It is “awkwardly” close to the houses and
and historian Greg Grandin, among others.18
shacks of the poor that lack decent sanitation, plumbing,
Predictably, since coming to power, Martelly has been
and electricity. The Clinton-Bush fund allocated $2 million rebuilding the Duvalierist system in which the elite get rich
(continued on page 14)
in “aid” to construct this hotel.14 Clinton is likewise alloin ventures with
august 2014 | haiti solidarity
11
Shameless Racism
in the Venezuelan Counter-Revolution
I
t’s late morning in Caracas, February 12. From the restaurant in
the hotel around the corner from
Plaza Venezuela we can hear chanting. Are they yelling “Maduro/burro
Salida”? We see smiling white people
streaming down the street in the first
huge anti-government demonstration
that signaled the onset of the current
outrages in Venezuela.
Olga, the restaurant manager, has
tan skin, dyed blond hair and brown
eyes. She is one of the 42 percent of
Venezuelans who self-identified as
white in the Census. She barks orders
to the Indigenous woman in the kitchen. She is laughing as she glances at a
cartoon in an anti-government Caracas
newspaper. I ask if there are any interesting stories. She unleashes a tirade
about how she hates Chavismo. She
says it has brought the “riff raff, brutes,
thugs and criminals into the city.” She
is emphatic. “Caracas is flooded with
uncultured animals who make life miserable for civilized people.” She concludes, “Look at the crime, insecurity,
murders!” It’s likely that Olga is influenced by cartoons by Kiko Rodriguez.
One of his more repulsive depictions
of Chavez expresses time-worn racist
contempt for people of African descent,
but it also foments fear and hatred. The
title is “Miko Mandante,” meaning “Ape
Commander” to mock the affectionate
title “Mi Comandante” used by masses
of Venezuelan people.
Olga never mentioned the race of
Venezuela’s poor. The extreme poor
in 2003 were 30 percent of the population and by 2011 only 6.8 percent.
Chavismo’s accomplishments in reducing poverty are significant because of
the near total correlation between class
and race in Venezuela. Nearly all the
12
By Arlene Eisen
wealthy people are phenotypically European, while
Arlene Eisen is a journalist, activist, and author.
nearly all those in povShe has been involved in anti-racism and antierty are Black and Brown.
sexism movements since the sixties.
Treating people of African
This
article
is excerpted with the author’s permission
and Indigenous descent as
from
Venezuelanalysis.com,
March 27, 2014.
animals or criminals is flagrantly visible in Venezufinanced infrastructure designed to
elan institutions. White supremacy in end the physical isolation and marginVenezuela resembles the US and other alization of African Descendants and
settler colonial countries.
Indigenous people. Set your search
The roots of white supremacy run
engine to “MetroCable San Agustín” to
deep, yet the Bolivarian Revolution has find photos and details of how Chavez’
improved the lives of Venezuela’s marevolutionary government spent $300
jority—who are people of color—unlike million to build a futuristic funicular. It
during the old dictatorships that served eliminates hours of climbing on foot up
Standard Oil and the US State Depart- and down treacherous mountain sides
ment. Legal tools—including land
to reach jobs, schools, health clinics
reform, a new Constitution written by a and other vital destinations. For tens
Constituent Assembly, the Organic Law of thousands of shack dwellers of San
Against Racial Discrimination—chip
Agustin—most of whom are African
away at discrimination and promote
descendants—MetroCable and new
mass participation in government, and housing construction on the hill demin communes, councils, collectives and onstrate that the Bolivarian revolution
cooperatives. These are the structures
will incorporate them.
of people’s power—including 30,000
Hugo Chavez, Venezuela’s first
communal councils designed to ensure President with African and Indigenous
that once-marginalized people become ancestors, spoke proudly about his
protagonists of their futures and nurthick lips and kinky hair. He practiced
ture their dignity. Between 1997 and
solidarity with Black and Brown people
2011 the portion of Venezuela’s wealth on a world scale. He provided aid
going to the richest 20 percent dewith no strings attached to Black and
creased from 53 percent to 44 percent. Indigenous people in the US, Haiti, CoAt the end of 2013, the poverty rate
lumbia and elsewhere. In 2011, a joint
had dropped by 20 percent, the largest Cuban-Venezuelan project opened the
decline in the Americas, and one of the first high school in Western Sahara’s
largest in the world. Oil revenue pays
refugee camps. A project in Palestine
for homes for the poor, schools where
provides free eye surgery.
every primary student gets a free lapThe counter-revolutionary movetop, universities with open admission,
ment in the streets has become the darhealth clinics, and jobs. It also funds
ling of the corporate press who never
programs against domestic violence,
mention that the racism pervading this
transgenic seeds and other campaigns
movement could rival that found in
for social justice.
the Ku Klux Klan. Racism is one of the
Venezuela’s oil money also has
main engines of the counter-revolution.
haiti solidarity | august 2014
1. Destroying progress
made by African Descendants
and Indigenous People
3. Criminalizing African
contrast to the perceived “laziness”
Descendants, Indigenous People of coastal slaves. Seven of Venezuela’s
and their Organizations
recent presidents (including dictators) came from the Gocho region.
he counter-revolutionary movehite peoples’ criminalizaThe epitome of these, nicknamed “El
ment in the streets has as one
tion of Black and Brown
Gocho,” was Carlos Andres Pérez who
of its main objectives restoring
people dates back to the
imposed the 1989 neo-liberal program
white privilege. Cartoons, editorials,
first rebellions by Indigenous and
that forced 70 percent of Venezuposters, graffiti blame Venezuela’s eco- enslaved people in the 1500s. African
elans into poverty. All residents of the
nomic problems on “squandering” the Descendants and Indigenous people
Andean states are sometimes referred
nation’s oil resources on the “rabble.”
have been invisible on privately-owned to as Gochos. However, the counterRacist cartoonist Weil is one of VenTV, except as servants or criminals.
revolutionary Gochos are concentrated
ezuela’s most widely reproduced. He
The Bolivarian government disbanded in San Cristobal and Mérida while
has 155,000 Twitter followers to whom local police forces that used to racially rural residents form the majority of the
he tweets militant support for Maria
profile, murder and harass African
states’ voters and have elected Chavista
Corina Machado (a right-wing extrem- Descendants. It has also taken steps to governors.
ist leader reminiscent of Sarah Palin)
reform prisons, establish alternatives to
Images of white people, outfitted
and other extremists promoting antiincarceration and mobilize local com- with makeshift rifles, pistols, Molotovs,
government lies, racism and violence.
munities to prevent crime. However,
slingshots and military equipment fill
Venezuela’s privately-owned media and the screens of tweeters. Others feature
2. Anti-communism, Xenophobia, the US corporate press convey that fear flaming barricades with captions like,
and Racism
of crime and government “inaction”
“Release the Gocho inside you.” Rightin an anti-Cuban Stew
in the face of crime motivates people
wing extremists like Maria Corina
to demand that Maduro resign. They
Machado have hyped the Gochos for
raffiti, Twitter, TV and print
claim that Chavista grassroots collectheir own political purposes. At rallies
media perpetuate racist, antitives—that provide a space and strucand press conferences, she never fails
communist and xenophobic
ture for previously marginalized people to associate herself with the Gochos
lies that Black Cubans have invaded
to lead and participate in political
of San Cristobal and Merida—the
Venezuela. Photos of Black people
education, cultural work and sports—
first barricaders and most persistently
in military uniform are retweeted
are paramilitary arms of the “Maduro
violent. Her poster features her wearthousands of times to arouse fear of
Dictatorship.” This racist myth undering a white t-shirt claiming, “We are
Black people, especially Cubans. On
mines a revolutionary institution—the all Tachira.” It labels her, “The Lady of
March 16, Alexandra Misel tweeted
communal council—that for the first
Iron”—the woman who aims to overa photo with the caption, “Are these
time gives people of color a voice in
throw the government and expel all
pure Afrodescendants from Barlovento how resources will be spent. It blames
Cubans from Venezuela so real (white)
(region of Venezuela with high conthe “colectivos” for intimidation and
Venezuelans may recover their dignity.
centration of African Descendants) or violence, rather than the middle class
So far, the vast majority of Venare they from Havana?” The next day,
youth who vandalize public property,
ezuelan people—especially African
she tweeted the same photo, but with
build barricades and have killed those
Descendants and Indigenous people—
a more alarmist caption, “Invading
who try to cross or dismantle them.
have rejected both the politics and
troops dressed like National Guard.”
strategy of the counter-revolutionary
From the comments under these
4. Distortion and Glorification movement. A Bloomberg News article
tweets, it is obvious Venezuelan white
of Gochismo
reported a bus driver’s observation,
supremacists have no way to distinguish
“It’s rich people trying to get economic
an African descendant who is Cuban
uring the 1930s, white Venperks. The slums won’t join them.” It
from one who is Venezuelan. They claim
ezuelan intellectuals promoted is time we stand in solidarity with the
their violent intentions are aimed at Cuexclusion of all but European
majority in Venezuela and voice strong
bans, but their practice of decapitating
immigrants. They pointed to the Andes opposition to US-sponsored coups or
motorcyclists and shooting Bolivarians and Mérida as “the grand reservoir of
intervention on the side of the counterindicates that the racism that fuels anti- the white race for the Republic.” For
revolution. i
Cuban threats is also harnessed to their some, Gocho identity as hard-working
terror campaign against Chavistas.
mountaineers emerged in direct
T
W
G
D
august 2014 | haiti solidarity
13
Where Will the Poor Go?
(continued from page 11)
foreign interests
(e.g., Clinton), while
the poor majority is further marginalized, immiserated, and increasingly
subjected to selective repression. Martelly has attempted
to rebuild the dreaded Haitian army,19 he has integrated
Duvalierist elements into his regime, and he has established
a supportive, friendly environment for “Baby Doc” Duvalier, now back in Haiti.20 Grassroots activists of the poor
reported to our team that they are experiencing threats on
their lives by a growing network of repressive agents. The
Martelly regime has postponed legislative elective and mayoral elections, with Martelly instead selecting many mayors
across the country, including in Port-au-Prince. A high-level
judge who was calling for an investigation into Martelly and
his family for corruption mysteriously died several days
after meeting with and reportedly being verbally attacked by
Martelly and his Prime Minister (Lamothe). Many Haitians
suspect death by poisoning.21 In ostentatious displays of
their wealth, Martelly and his family are well-known for
their extensive travels abroad and lavish life styles. He is
an excellent junior partner for Bill Clinton and the Obama
Administration.
The people in downtown Port-au-Prince whose homes
and businesses have been destroyed are demanding justice
and reparations. They have just experienced another earthquake and they are clear that this one is human-made, in the
service of “economic development” that discards the poor.
Now is the time to join our voices with them in demanding
justice and reparations. Now is the time to join our voices
with those of Haitian grassroots activists in the Lavalas
movement struggling courageously for the restoration of
democracy in Haiti. i
Endnotes
1. Personal communication.
2. Haiti Libre, “Haiti-Reconstruction: the Demolition of
the Area of Public Utility.” http://www.haitilibre.com/en/
news-8090-haiti-reconstruction-expropriation-no-titleno-compensation.html.
3. Haiti Libre, “Haiti-Reconstruction: Expropriation, No
Title, No Compensation.” http://www.haitilibre.com/en/
news-11287-haiti-reconstruction-the-demolition-of-thearea-of-public-utility-began-in-port-au-prince.html. Also,
for a 2012 projected breakdown of funding for the particular components of the “administrative center” project, see
www.skyscrapercity.co, “Haiti-Reconstruction: the New
Haiti Is Emerging.”
4. For a more in-depth discussion of this event and the
protest, see Dunkel, “Haiti: Bill Clinton Receives ‘Lifetime
Achievement Award’ But Where Is the Money for Reconstruction?” http://www.globalresearch.ca/haiti-bill-clinton-
14
haiti solidarity | august 2014
receives-lifetime-achievement-award-but-where-is-themoney-for-reconstruction/5388737.
5. The GAO report is available at http://www.gao.gov/products/gao-14-47t.
6. See Katz, “With Cheap Food Imports, Haiti Can’t Feed
Itself ”. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/20/withcheap-food-imports-h_n_507228.html.
7. See his filmed apology on “Democracy Now”, April 1,
2010. http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/1/clinton_
rice.
8. For excellent coverage, see Edmonds, “Sweatshops Over
Homes”. http://nacla.org/news/sweatshops-over-homeshaiti.
9. Katz, “A Glittering Industrial Park in Haiti Falls Short”.
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/9/10/a-glittering-industrialparkfallsshortinhaiti.html.
10. “Coca Cola Scheme Brings Hope to Haiti” on www.cocacola.co.uk.
11. See Moye, “Hope in Haiti: Why Job Creation and Economic Development Will Drive Nation’s Recovery”. http://www.
coca-colacompany.com/stories/hope-in-haiti-why-jobcreation-and-economic-development-will-drive-nationsrecovery.
12. See the “Haiti Hope Project” fact sheet on Clinton Bush
Fund website.
13. See official website for the Clinton Foundation.
14. For a detailed examination of this “aid” project, see Wilentz, “Letter from Haiti: Life in the Ruins.” http://www.
thenation.com/article/172101/letter-haiti-life-ruins.
15. For a summary of the many problems with these “selections”, see Weisbrot, “Haiti Election: a Travesty of Democracy” and IJDH, “The United States Should Support Fair
and Inclusive Elections in Haiti.” http://www.theguardian.
com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/jan/10/haiti-oaselection-runoff.
16. Beeton, “Haiti’s Elections: Parties Banned, Media Yawns.”
http://www.cepr.net/index.php/op-eds-&-columns/op-eds&-columns/haitis-elections-parties-banned-media-yawns.
17. Grandin, “Martelly: Haiti’s Second Great Disaster.” http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/05/20115413435816393.html.
18. Ibid.
19. The Economist, “Haiti’s Army: Who Needs Them?” http://
www.economist.com/news/americas/21588085-michelmartelly-pushes-ahead-reviving-army-who-needs-them.
20. CEPRI, “Former Dictator Lives the Good Life.” http://
www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/relief-and-reconstructionwatch/former-dictator-lives-the-good-life-as-haitian-government-has-deliberately-stalled-investigation.
21. Geffrard, “Haiti: Political Assassination?” http://www.
globalresearch.ca/haiti-political-assassination-suspiciousdeath-of-judge-who-called-for-prosecution-of-presidential-family/5343313.
Oscar Lopez
(continued from page 16)
Oscar was told his
would be commuted
after serving ten
more years of the escape charge. Eleven accepted the offer.
Oscar felt that he couldn’t leave prison without his remaining comrade, nor would he admit guilt for the bogus escape
charge.
In 2011, Carlos Torres was given parole. In 2012, three
years after he would have been released, Oscar was also up
for parole. The FBI went to town. Right wing radio host
Dick Morris called for thousands of people to flood the
parole board switch board opposing Oscar’s release. FBI
agents lined the courtroom where the hearing was held. Finally, the FBI brought the children of people who had been
killed in a bombing in New York City to testify against Oscar. This, despite the fact, that Oscar had not been charged,
let alone convicted of this event. Oscar was not only denied
parole but was told not to come back for another hearing for
fifteen years.
The call for Oscar’s release has united Puerto Ricans
of all classes and political orientations. Statehooders and
nationalists have all demanded that he be brought home.
Puerto Rico’s non-voting US congressional representative—
a supporter of statehood for Puerto Rico—said, “I don’t see
how they can justify another twelve years of prison after he
has spent practically 30 years in prison, and the others who
were charged with the same conduct are already in the free
community. It seems to me to be excessive punishment.”
The Archbishop of Puerto Rico, the mayor of San Juan,
and countless local mayors and municipalities throughout
the island have rallied for his release. Last June the national
Puerto Rican Day Parade—the largest in the world—was
dedicated to Oscar. Ricky Martin, the Puerto Rican pop
star, even called for his freedom on the Latin Grammys!
Nobel laureates Desmund Tutu and Mairead Maguire
have urged President Obama to release him. So has the
government of Puerto Rico, the American Association of
International Days of Solidarity
(continued from page 5)
from the Philippines,
South Africa, the
Caribbean, South
America, to Europe and North America—answering the call
from the popular movement in Haiti. It gave new meaning
to the slogan, “Think globally, act locally,” since the 75 farflung activities, while coordinated behind the same banner
and similar demands, were all locally organized. The heartbeat of it all was in Haiti, where nearly 200,000 people took
to the streets in a massive outpouring in cities and towns all
over the country.
February 29, 2008 - On the Third International Day,
four years to the day after the Leap Year’s Day coup, people in
Jurists, the AFL-CIO, the United Church of Christ, and the
Movement of Non-Aligned Countries. Four members of
Congress have called on President Obama to let him go.
Although Obama has one of the worst pardon records
of any US president, there are precedents for the commutation of the sentences of Puerto Rican political prisoners. In
addition to Clinton, Harry Truman and Jimmy Carter also
commuted the sentences of Puerto Rican nationalists.
In each instance they were moved and motivated by the
enormous support shown by Puerto Ricans and their allies.
The United States is one of the only countries that incarcerates its people for decades on end. Political prisoners
throughout the world have routinely been released. Only in
the US are there still countless political prisoners that have
been jailed since the sixties and seventies, many of them
former Black Panthers.
Oscar Lopez Rivera is a father and a grandfather. He is
an accomplished artist. He remains steadfast in his love for
his people and his love for the island.
In a letter to his granddaughter he wrote:
“After my family, what I miss the most is the sea.
“It has been 35 years since the last time I saw it. But
I have painted it many times…For any Puerto Rican,
living far from the sea is almost incomprehensible. It’s
different when you know you are free to move anywhere
and to travel to see it.”
Thirty-three years is more than enough.
It’s time he came home.
To sign a letter to Obama and for more information,
email: help-free-olr@boricuahumanrights.org i
Judith Mirkinson has been active in campaigns to free
political prisoners for over forty years. In 2010 she visited
Haiti as a member of a women’s human rights delegation.
50 cities on four continents organized more than 60 actions
to denounce the coup. In Haiti protesters jammed the streets
of the capital to voice their anger. Why, nearly two years
after the installation of a formally elected government in May
2006, did foreign troops still occupy Haiti? Why were political prisoners still held in jail without trial? Why did coup
plotters still hold key government positions? Why had coup
victims received no justice or reparations? Why was President Aristide kept in exile, and not allowed to return home?
(He was finally able to return only in March 2011.) The message then, like the message now, is that the coup against the
people of Haiti continues. The US/UN occupation continues. And so does the resistance of the people of Haiti. i
august 2014 | haiti solidarity
15
Oscar
Lopez Rivera
Oscar Lopez Rivera is the longest held political prisoner
in Puerto Rican history. In fact he is the longest held political
prisoner in all of Latin America. He is now 71-years-old and has
served 33 years of a 75-year sentence.
Who is he and why is this so?
O
by Judith Mirkinson
scar Lopez Rivera was born in Puerto Rico
and came to the US when he was fourteen.
He served in Vietnam and was awarded the
Bronze Star. He returned to Chicago in a time of
violence and rebellion throughout the country and
throughout the world. In Chicago, as in other areas
of the US, there was a concerted effort by the police
to crush the spirit of Black and Brown communities.
Countless Black Panthers and Young Lords were
victims of violence and arrest. In 1969, the Chicago
police killed Fred Hampton and Mark Clark.
It was in this context that Oscar Lopez Rivera,
along with many others, began to organize. He
worked for better health care, housing, and education in the
Chicago Puerto Rican community and helped found the
first Puerto Rican cultural center and high school, both of
which are still in existence today.
At the same time Puerto Ricans on the island were demanding an end to US colonialism established in 1898.
Following the example of their comrades in Puerto
Rico, activists in the US formed the clandestine FALN
(Armed Forces of National Liberation). It subsequently
claimed credit for a series of bombings calling for Puerto
Rican independence.
In 1980, eleven activists were arrested outside Chicago
and charged with seditious conspiracy to overthrow the US
government. Sedition is clearly a political charge: historically used almost exclusively against the Puerto Rican
independence movement. The eleven maintained that they
were political prisoners and prisoners of war. They cited
UN declarations which state that Puerto Rico is a colony
and that under international law, colonial subjects have the
inherent right to fight for independence.
16
haiti solidarity | august 2014
The eleven were given sentences ranging from 40 to 90
years—the judge was sorry he couldn’t give them the death
penalty. Clearly, these were political sentences totally out of
proportion to the “crimes” involved.
Oscar Lopez Rivera was arrested in 1981 and was also
convicted of seditious conspiracy. Although he was neither
charged nor convicted of any bombings nor of injuring anyone, he was given a sentence of 55 years. Six years later, he
was given an additional fifteen years for a supposed escape
attempt. This was EIGHT times the normal sentence for
actual escape!
Oscar was placed in the notorious maximum security
unit at Marion Prison in Illinois. There he was subjected to
continual sensory deprivation, harassment and twelve years
of solitary confinement (now deemed torture by the United
Nations).
In 1999, President Clinton, determining that the sentences imposed were totally disproportionate, offered to
commute the sentences of twelve of the then thirteen Puerto
Ricans still in prison. One, Carlos Alberto Torres was refused commutation.
(continued on page 15)